Moving Forward
by Amaltheafan
Summary: All we can do is keep moving forward. The sequel to Brewed Locally.
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is, the sequel to Brewed Locally, Moving Forward. As with Brewed Locally, the following story contains mentions of drug and alcohol addiction and abuse. Reader discretion is advised.**

* * *

As the car came up the long cobblestone driveway, Tweek could see a small crowd gathered on the front lawn. It was Craig and Jimmy and Clyde and their families, holding up their own banner, which read in hand painted, big and bold letters.

WELCOME HOME TWEEK

The car stopped in front of the garage, was put into park, and the doors unlocked.

In a flash, Tweek unbuckled his seatbelt, threw open the door, jumped out of his seat and out of the car, and ran. Craig ran too and the two boys closed the gap and embraced each other in a firm, warm, longed for hug.

"I missed you so God damn much." Craig said as tears started to roll down his cheeks. Tweek was home and safe and in his arms and that's all that mattered to Craig at that moment.

"I missed you too." Tweek responded; his own cheeks strained with tears. He was back and had Craig in his arms. That's all that mattered to Tweek at that moment.

After some moments, Tweek and Craig pulled apart enough for both of them to motion over the other children to join in, which they all did and soon, all the children were in a giant group hug. There wasn't a dry eye among them and the same went for the adults, who watched on.

Thomas Tucker turned to Robert Black and told him, with full sincerity, "Thank you."

"Thomas, you've already thanked us…"

"You've brought Tweek into your family, back home, back to my son; so from me, him, everyone else, I'll say it again, thank you." Thomas said firmly.

Robert didn't say anything, just went back to watching the reunion.

Things could never go back to the way they were, all everyone could from then on, was keep moving forward.

* * *

Soon enough, it was time for everyone to go back to their homes and Tweek to get settled into his new one. Goodbyes and promises to each other soon's were exchanged. After the last car had driven away, Mr. and Mrs. Black got Tweek's bags and they and Token escorted Tweek inside.

"I know you've been here before but do you still want a tour?" Mr. Black asked as he and everyone else stopped in the foyer.

"Yeah, I think I could use a tour." Tweek responded. He had been there before to play with Token but he didn't know where everything was.

As he was shown around, Tweek looked over his surroundings with new eyes. He wasn't just going to spend an afternoon or one night; he was going to live there. That put a whole new perspective on things.

As he was being shown the kitchen, Tweek felt like something was off, like something was missing but he couldn't put his finger on what. He briefly thought about asking about this but quickly decided against it, thinking it surely was just his imagination.

The tour led upstairs and everyone stopped in front of a closed door.

"And this is your room." Mr. Black said, opening the door and walking inside with everyone behind him.

It was a good size room, with light green walls and tan carpet. Windows with dark green curtains flanked either side of the bed, which was king size and had Lego covers. Tweek pulled back the covers to reveal Lego bed sheets.

"We know you like Legos, so we got you these." Mr. Black explained. "Are they alright? If not, we can always get you different ones."

"No, no, that's alright. These are awesome, thank you." Tweek said and that was the truth. He loved Legos.

There was a brown wooden dresser with a flat screen television resting on top of it opposite the bed. Against another wall was a work desk with a chair and lamp. Next to it were empty book shelves. Close to the door was the closet, which Tweek opened and found inside several cardboard boxes labeled 'Tweek's Stuff'. He turned to his foster family, noticing their anticipation.

"Go ahead, open them." Token said.

So Tweek opened a box and found several objects covered in bubble wrap. Tweek carefully unwrapped one and soon discovered that what was inside was a red model airplane. Tweek put that aside and unwrapped another object, which turned out to be a model tank. He unwrapped everything in that box, which all turned out to be either a model airplane or tank. Then he opened up the other boxes and unwrapped their contents, which included boxes of Legos, board games, jigsaw puzzles, hot wheel sets, and a stuffed green dinosaur.

He recognized these toys. "These are all my old toys."

"Yes, we thought maybe you would want them back." Mrs. Black explained. "Is that alright? Do you still want them?" She asked with concern, unsure what kind of memories the objects would bring back up for Tweek.

"Yes I still want them. Thank you for holding onto this stuff for me." Tweek said and he meant it. The rehab place had a few toys to play with but none could compare to the comfort of his own belongings.

This statement brought relief to Mr. and Mrs. Black. Token for his part hadn't even considered the possibly of Tweek getting upset at the toys, only thinking that his friend would want his stuff back.

"And the room, is the room to your liking?" Mr. Black asked. "We can always paint the walls a different color or maybe change the carpet or…"

"I'm good, I like this room." Tweek responded and that was true too. He liked the green and tan colors together, made the room feel earthy and relaxed. "If…if you all don't mind…I think I'd like to be alone for a while."

"Okay, if that's what you want. We'll be around, so feel free to come get us if you need anything." Mr. Black said.

"And we mean anything, don't be afraid to ask." Mrs. Black added.

"Come on you guys." Token said, as he lead his parents out of the room and closed the door behind them.

At last, Tweek was alone.

Tweek went to the bed and lay on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how much his life had changed within the past three months.

His parents had been arrested, the truth had come out that they had been using him as a lab rat to test out their meth coffee that they were in turn selling to their customers. From there, he had gone through drug rehab, his parents had been tried and convicted and sent to jail, and he was now out of rehab and living with Token and his parents as his new foster family.

Token's parents were now his foster parents, which made Token his foster brother. So what was this going to mean for them? How was this going to change their friendship? Tweek knew he wasn't ready to call Token 'Brother' quite yet, just like he also wasn't ready to call Mr. and Mrs. Black 'Mom and Dad'. He knew Token felt the same way.

Token had told him more then once that he was more then happy to have him living with him but after a while, would he change his mind? After a while, would he get sick of dealing with all of Tweek's mental baggage ?

Would Mr. and Mrs. Black?

Tweek wanted to believe that no, they wouldn't get tired of him, that they all would care for him and maybe even, someday, grow to love him as one of the family.

But of course he had to think about the worse case scenario because his brain was cruel and liked making him suffer. Just like his birth parents.

Those two brought up some….feelings that Tweek wasn't really in the mood to think about right then and there.

Then there were Mr. and Mrs. McCormick, Kenny's birth parents. Now there was at least two people he didn't have complicated feelings about. Goodbye, good riddance and thank _God_ they were in jail and far away from their children.

He had heard that Kenny and his siblings were doing quite well for themselves living with Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave. Kenny supposedly was a lot cleaner and smelled better thanks to the regular showers he now got and the fact his clothes were now regularly washed as well. His meals were bigger and more balanced and he had been gaining some much-needed weight as a result. Supposedly he was really into this new diet

Clyde had recounted in one letter about one time during lunch, everyone at the lunch table could hear Kenny just moaning and groaning loudly with pleasure while eating a salad. Then Cartman had commented with something along the lines of "Damn, Kenny, you and the salad get a room already, why don't ya?" To which Kenny had responded by flipping him off.

While in rehab, the message had been sent that after knowing exactly how much Kenny knew about the meth lab, Tweek hadn't changed his mind, that he still wasn't angry with Kenny. Last he heard; Kenny still didn't quite believe that. Tweek wanted to talk to him to convince him that it was the truth, because it was.

But first, he wanted to see his boyfriend, Craig, and the rest of his friends again. Their reunion had been wonderful but all too brief, not enough time to really relax and hang out. He wanted to go ice-skating and have snowball fights and play video games and just….feel like a kid. Something he hadn't really felt for the past few months.

Tweek heard a knock at the door.

"Hello?" He said, sitting up.

"It's us, we've got your bags." Came Mrs. Black's voice through the door. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Tweek responded and his foster parents entered the room.

"Sorry to disturb you but we realized we had forgotten these downstairs." Mr. Black said, lifting a bag slightly higher to point it out.

"That's alright, thank you, you can just put them down wherever." Tweek said.

So they put the bags down and Mr. Black asked, "Need anything else right now?"

"No, thank you." Tweek responded.

"Okay, well, see you later." Mrs. Black said before she and her husband exited the room, leaving Tweek alone again.

Then there were Mr. and Mrs. Black. The talks they had during his rehab visits hadn't focused much on them and before that…Tweek couldn't remember ever speaking to either of them before that, except maybe in passing when he was visiting Token. Point being that Tweek barely knew his new foster parents. He wanted to change that but he wasn't ready to start right at that moment. He craved some much-needed privacy, something he hadn't had much of at rehab.

So Tweek spent the rest of the afternoon alone in his room, some of that time spent unpacking and putting away his things.

* * *

That night, Mrs. Black called everyone down for dinner.

When Tweek got into the dining room, he could see that the table was spread out with….

Wait a minute…was that…?

Tweek blinked several times, and then stared at the spread again. There was a pan filled with macaroni and cheese and a plate stacked with hotdogs. There were condiment bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and relish. And finishing it off was a plate of sliced apples. It wasn't that he hated any of the food on the table; it was just not what he had been expecting at all; he expected some kind of fancy rich people food, like lobster and caviar and stuff like that.

Token and his parents could see the confusion on his face. "We weren't really sure if you would like any of our more 'fancy' food, so we thought maybe we'd start with food you're more familiar with." Mr. Black explained.

"Then, if you're alright with it, we could slowly introduce you to our 'fancy' food." Mrs. Black added. Then she quickly added more. "But only on your terms!"

"They've asked me and the rest of the guys what foods you liked, which included this." Token said; nodding his head to indicate the food spread on the table.

Tweek looked at his foster family, then back at the food. The top layer of the macaroni and cheese glistened in the light of the chandelier. He could just see wifts of stream coming off it and the hotdogs as well. He sniffed the air. It all smelled delicious.

He looked back to his foster family again and a small grin formed on his lips. "This is really nice, you guys." He said.

That made everyone else smile. Then Tweek grabbed the big spoon dipped into the macaroni and started helping him, with everyone else following suit.

Turns out, one of the symptoms of crystal meth use was lose of appetite and as a result, Tweek ate like a bird while he was on it. He had figured he was just one of those people that wasn't that much into food. At least, that was his father's explanation after Tweek had once asked him about it.

Ever since he had off meth, his appetite had slowly been coming back and it turned out, Tweek liked food more then he thought, especially sweets, which included the lemon squares included in one of his care packages, made with Clyde's mother's recipe.

But macaroni and cheese and hotdogs were good too, especially what Tweek devoured that night. Tweek's plate was licked clean.

When everyone had finished their meals, Mrs. Black started to get everyone's plates and silverware.

"W-wait! I'll get it!" Tweek exclaimed, grabbing a few plates and utensils himself.

"Are you sure? I don't mind getting them." Mrs. Black said.

"I want to."

Mrs. Black paused for a moment before speaking again. "Tell you what, we can work together."

So Mrs. Black and Tweek got all the dishes and silverware and worked together to get everything rinsed for the dishwasher and washed for the drying rack. When the job was finished, Mrs. Black thanked Tweek for the help.

"Thank you for the help, Tweek."

"No problem."

Tweek paused, then continued, a bit nervously.

"Hey, uh, Mrs. Black? Are…are you busy tonight?"

"No, I can't say I am. Did you want to do something?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would maybe….like to play a board game with me? And Mr. Black and Token too, if they want."

"Why that sounds like fun. I don't think we've played a board game as a family for quite a while."

Mr. Black and Token were asked if they wanted to join, to which they said yes. Then everyone went to where all the old board games were stored and looked them over. One particular game caught Tweek's eye.

"How about this?" He said, holding up an old worn out box with a faded picture depicting several people sitting around a fancy parlor room titled 'Clue'.

"Is that Clue? Let's play that one!" Mr. Black said excitedly, grabbing the box right out of Tweek's hands and running off to go set it up.

"He really loves Clue. It's his most favorite board game." Token said to a confused Tweek.

"Heh, I can see that." Tweek responded with slight amusement.

He and Token walked into the dining room, where Mr. and Mrs. Black were setting up the game.

"So, how do you play?" Tweek asked. "I've never played before."

"Oh, well, it's simple enough but first, let me set the mood." Mr. Black began to explain, complete with dramatic voice and gestures. "Picture it, a dark and stormy night, a big beautiful mansion up on a hill. It's owner found dead and it looks to be foul play. Six other people are there as well and all are now suspects in the murder. The object of the game is to find out who did it, with what weapon, and where they committed the murder most foul!"

The responses to these theatrics were an amused wife, an embarrassed biological son, and a giggling foster son, who had half expected lightning and thunder to suddenly appear to accompany the atmosphere.

Then Mr. Black went on to introduce the suspects and have everyone pick who they were going to represent

Mr. Black chose to play as Mr. Green, the corrupt businessman. Mrs. Black chose Mrs. Peacock, the Grande Dame. Token chose Professor Plum, the absent-minded professor. Lastly, Tweek chose Mrs. White, the dead millionaire's long time maid.

Then there were the rules, to which Tweek started getting nervous about not being able to remember all of them.

"Uh….sorry if I get mixed up on the rules. I've never played this game before." Tweek said.

"Hey man, no worries. This is only your first time, you'll get the hang of it soon enough." Token tried to reassure his friend.

"That's right and we don't have to follow the rules to a tee. It is a game after all, it's meant to be fun." Mr. Black added.

In the end, everyone had fun. Even Mrs. Black; who had ended up being the killer, using the candlestick in the kitchen. Token had been the one to catch her, making him the winner. Mr. Black had just been happy to play. Tweek was happy to have gotten to get to know his foster father a little bit better.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep_

 _Beep_

 _Beep_

Tweek reached out and shut off the alarm clock. He pulled back the covers, sat up in bed and stretched, trying to wake up.

He had slept through the whole night, not waking up even once. His sleep schedule had greatly improved over the past three months, going from way too little, to way too much during the early days of his withdrawal, to now sleeping around the recommended amount for a boy his age, nine to eleven hours a night.

He didn't want to sleep in too late though, he and Token and the rest of the guys had agreed to hang out that day.

So he hopped out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast. At his old house, he was always hit with the smell of coffee first thing in the morning as he entered the kitchen. On this morning, upon entering the kitchen in his new house, Tweek didn't smell coffee. No, it was another scent that greeted him, lemon perhaps?

"Morning Tweek." Mr. and Mrs. Black said from where they were sitting at the kitchen table, Mrs. Black checking her phone and Mr. Black reading the morning paper, each with a streaming mug in front of them.

"Morning." Tweek said, still curious about the smell. "Hey, uh, do you two smell lemon in here?"

"Oh, that would be the lemon tea I made, dear." Mrs. Black said, raising her mug.

"Tea?" Tweek said before noticing the bright red teapot on the stove. "Oh."

"Did you sleep well last night?" Mr. Black asked.

"Yeah, I slept great. All through the night." Tweek responded a bit distracted, taking a double take on his surroundings.

He finally realized what he had found odd in the Black's kitchen yesterday, what was missing. It was a coffeepot. There wasn't a single coffeepot or even one of those fancy coffee makers anywhere. Nothing. But why though? And then he realized why.

During rehab, someone had brought in a streaming cup of black coffee. Upon smelling said beverage, Tweek suddenly felt a sense of dread and panic. He was soon violently shaking, his heart beating a million miles an hour, his arms and legs numb to the point where he could barely stand, and he started hyperventilating.

After the doctors and nurses got him to calm down, they explained to Tweek that what he had just experienced was a panic attack. Tweek told them that he already knew that, this wasn't the first one he had ever had. It was, however, the first one that had been brought on by just the smell of coffee. He was then asked if he knew what a trigger was, to which he answered no, he didn't. The way it was explained to him was, a trigger was something that made one recall a traumatic experience. Basically, coffee had made Tweek remember how it had been used it to abuse him and that had brought on the panic attack.

It didn't matter what kind it was, they all brought back memories of his parent's abuse. The worse of all was pure black coffee because that was the kind his parent's laced with crystal meth and gave Tweek to drink the most.

Naturally, Mr. and Mrs. Black were immediately contacted and told what happened. After that they got rid of their espresso machine and coffeepot and vowed not to drink coffee in front of Tweek, drinking it at work and other caffeinated drinks at home.

Tweek's memories were interrupted by Mrs. Black's voice.

"Tweek? Tweek, dear, are you alright?"

"Huh?"

Tweek was brought out of his thoughts and back to the present, where his foster parents were looking at him with mild concern.

"I asked if you're alright. You were staring off into space." Mrs. Black reiterated.

"Oh…. yeah, I was just…. thinking. Um…trying to remember where you said the bowls were." Tweek said, not wanting to trouble them so early.

"Oh, well, they're over here." Mr. Black said, getting up and walking over to an overhead cabinet that had the bowls and grabbed one.

"You could have just told me where they were." Tweek said.

"It's no trouble. You want a spoon, right?" Mr. Black asked, not waiting for Tweek to answer before going for a drawer, pulling out a spoon, and setting it down next to the bowl.

"Uh, thank you. I'm good now, at least I know where the milk and cereal are." Tweek said before getting said milk and cereal out of the refrigerator and pantry, pouring them into the bowl and sitting down at the table with his foster parents.

Soon after, Token joined them; the boys had their breakfast, than got ready for the day.

They were soon ready and out the door…..

Then Tweek had to come right back in because even though it was late May, it was still freeze your tits off cold up in that small mountain town and without meth constantly keeping his body temperate raised, Tweek got colder a lot easier now. In other words, he needed to bundle up.

Tweek put on his brand new green jacket and gloves and once again, was out the door.

Much better.

* * *

Token and Tweek met up with Clyde, Craig, and Jimmy in front of Clyde's house. After their initial hello's, Clyde asked,

"So, uh, what do you guys wanna do?"

That was a good question. In their excitement to have the whole gang back together, the boys had set a time and place to meet but no planned activities.

"Come on you fellas. We ha-have to think of sometaaahhhhh!" Jimmy shouted as he was hit on the right side of his face by a snowball and was almost knocked to the ground. "W-what the…"

"Snowball fight!" Tweek shouted from Jimmy's right side, then kneeling down to make another snowball.

"Oh, it's o-o-on!" Jimmy proclaimed and thus, the battle begun and the air was soon filled with flying snowballs and the shouts and laughter of those five little boys.

Meanwhile, inside the Marsh house, Cartman, Stan, and Kyle were sitting on Stan's living room couch, while Kenny and Butters were sitting on the floor. The five of them had been playing video games when they had heard the noise from outside.

"What the hell is all that noise outside?" Cartman asked.

"I don't know." Stan said, before getting off the couch to have a look see out his front window.

After a good hard look, he said, "….Uh, guys….."

"What is it, Stan?" Kyle asked.

"…It's Tweek." Stan said.

"What?!" his four friends said at the same time before all running to the window.

"Holy shit, it is Tweek!" Cartman said, everyone crowding around the window to get a glimpse of their friend.

"And he's wearing a jacket!" Kyle pointed out.

This got some ohs and awes, considering that Tweek was known among his peers for being the kid who could walk around with no shirt on, in freeze-your-tits-off dead of winter South Park, Colorado.

Just as soon as he spotted Tweek, Kenny quickly backed away from the window and hid behind a curtain. Everyone else turned to face him. "Think he saw me?"

The others looked back out the window.

Their peers were still having a grand old time pelting each other with snowballs. There were no teams, no rules, just carefree playtime that could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

"No, no I don't think so." Butters answered.

"Good. Now get away from the window before they see you." Kenny commanded.

Everyone got away from the windows and Stan closed the curtains.

"Kenny, not that you should do it now, obviously, but…when are you planning on talking to Tweek?" Kyle asked.

"I….I…" Kenny struggled to give an answer.

"You have to do it sometime, dude." Stan added.

"I know I do, it's just…..how am I going to face him?" Kenny said, looking at his friends with pleading eyes. "I mean, what if….what if, secretly, he's actually furious with me?" Kenny said.

"But why would he lie about that though?" Butters asked.

"Yeah and if he hated you so much, then why did he convince Craig to talk to you instead of letting him kick your ass?" Stan added.

"Because he's a good person." Kenny answered.

After a moment's silence, Kyle spoke. "…I just…don't know what else to say, except, that when you two finally do talk, I hope that Tweek will have better luck convincing you then us."

And with that, the boys went back to their game, while occasionally peeking outside on their peers.

* * *

"Your turn to spy on Tweek, Butters." Cartman said to Butters.

"Alright." Butters responded, walking over to the window, pulled open a small crack in the curtains and had a look outside.

"Hey fellas, Tweek's gone." Butters said.

"Really?" Kenny said, as he and the rest of his friends went once again to the window. Butters pulled open the curtains and low and behold, no Tweek. No Tweek, no Clyde, no Jimmy, Craig, or Token in sight, just a lot of tramped snow and a freshly made snowman smack in the middle of it all.

"See ya later guys." Kenny said before walking out the door and heading back to his foster home.

As everyone watched him leave, Cartman said, "That kid needs to face his God damn problems."

"Come on, Eric. You know this whole Tweek business has been really hard on Kenny." Butters said.

"Just give him some time, dude. Even he and Craig waited for a day before they talked, remember?" Kyle added.

"Yes, I do remember, Kahl. I remember how fucking awkward it was watching them staring at each other all day during schewl." Cartman said.

This of course brought flashbacks of said day and Cartman was right, it was awkward, not just for Kenny and Craig, but for everyone else too.

"Kyle's right, Tweek and Kenny just need some time. They'll talk soon enough, I know they will." Stan said.

"They better." Cartman responded.

* * *

It was a glorious snowball fight that ended with all it's participants collapsing unto the snow, looking up at the cloudy sky. Since they were already laying on the ground, the boys made snow angels.

After some snow angels and rest, next came a snowman. It was made of three large balls stacked on top of each other, two twig arms, rocks forming the eyes and mouth, and finished off with Tweek putting on the carrot nose.

When they were done with that, they went inside Clyde's house to for lunch.

The boys were sitting around the Donovan kitchen table with a plate of fish sticks in the center, eating as Token and Tweek told them what had happened the other day after they had left.

"Wait, so, to celebrate Tweek living you, you all served mac and cheese and hot dogs for dinner?" Clyde asked Token.

"Yes, my parents were worried about serving Tweek wouldn't like, so they picked something that they knew that he did." Token explained.

"Something more familiar was how Token's dad put it. Personally I thought it was really nice." Tweek added, then turned to Token. "That it was real considerate."

"It was nothing, really." Token said.

"To think of my comfort like that, even asking me if I'm okay with trying something more fancy, that's not nothing. Just how much you all have been thinking about my comfort, that's something that _you know who_ rarely did." Tweek said and every person present knew exactly of whom he was talking about.

"Well, a lot of it has been my parents and Craig too. You should be thanking him." Token said. "As soon my family agreed to fostering you, Craig has been talking to us nonstop to make sure we knew how to make you comfortable. Telling us what you like, what you dislike, how to calm you down, stuff like that."

"Thank you Craig." Tweek said to Craig sincerly.

"Well, I…I just want to look out for you, that's all." Craig responded, bashful.

"Well, I can safety say, your advice worked last night."

"What?"

"I wanted to break the ice and maybe get to know Token's parents better last night with a game, so I picked out a board game called Clue. But then I started to get nervous about remembering all the rules because I had never played before. But Token and his parents reassured me that it wasn't a big deal, that it was just a game, and that got me to calm down. I ended up having a lot of fun." Tweek explained.

"I'm glad they were able to help you." Craig said to Tweek with sincerity, then turned to Token and said with the same emotion. "Thank you for helping him. And I'm not just talking about last night, I mean…..everything."

"Craig…." Token started to say.

"And don't say it's nothing, because it's not nothing to him or to me either." Craig interrupted.

It was silent for a few moments after that. A bird perched outside the kitchen window and chirped. Finally, it was Clyde who broke the silence.

'So did you learn anything?"

"Huh?" Tweek asked.

"You said you wanted to get to know Token's parents better with the game, so did you?" Clyde reiterated.

"…I learned that Token's dad really likes board games and his favorite one is Clue." Tweek answered.

"Now is that the m-murder my-mystery game?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes and he's adored it since he was a kid. Heh, he was sure acting like a kid while playing it last night." Tweek said with amusement.

"You should see his collection." Token piped in.

"Collection?" Tweek asked.

Yes, turns out Robert Black had quite the Clue collection, including various versions of the game (tabletop and video game) and even the feature length film.

After lunch, it was unto video games and causal conversation, which included filling in events since the last letters. There wasn't that much of anything new to report that hadn't already been discussed via said letters.

Well, there was one thing.

Turns out Token had gone and asked everyone he knew who had a sibling, well, what was it like? Here's some of the advice he got.

"You will find that the two of you will start to steal each other's stuff. Clothes, headphones, snacks, you name it, and they'll take it." Stan had said, continuing with, "While we're on the subject, you may want to start finding hiding places for your favorite snacks or else, _you're not seeing them again_." while looking over his shoulder at his big sister, Shelley.

Then Shelley spoke back. "Oh, and you may want to get an extra set of headphones, least _someone_ borrows them and doesn't give them back."

"You're going to have to learn to share, your space, your stuff, your parents attention. And you will get jealous, don't bullshit me and say that you won't, cause you will. It comes with the territory." Craig shared.

"But, you do have an advantage that I didn't when Tricia was born. Tweek isn't a baby, so you two can talk through your problems." Craig finished.

"I guess I would say…look, your parents, while good people, aren't perfect. They won't always have the right choices with Tweek. That's why you'll have to step up and be there for him, be his ally." Kenny had said. "But most of all, be his friend."

"Just don't take the fact that you and Tweek are already friends for granted." Kyle had added from beside Kenny. "It's a lot different to live with someone verses not and comes with a whole new set of challenges. Trust me."

Then Ike appeared and gave his own advice.

"There will be times when you'll drive each other up the wall crazy. You both will make mistakes. But, if you both learn to admit to those mistakes and put in the effort needed to make things right, you'll find yourself with a real special bond." At this, Ike looked up at his brother. "One that, at the end of the day, you'll know that you always have each other's backs."

"Ike…" Kyle had said from beside his little brother, clearly touched.

"Anything else to add?" Ike asked Kyle, smiling up at him.

"No, no I think you finished it off pretty well." Kyle responded, smiling back.

After Token finished recounting the events, he added, "Look, I just wanted to know what to expect living with you. I'm not really ready to call you 'Brother' yet and I know you must feel the same way..."

"I do. Believe me, I do." Tweek responded. "And I appreciate you doing that. Asking around, I mean."

"...You're welcome."

Tweek then grabbed his soda can and raised it up in a toast. "To Token!"

Then Jimmy, Clyde, and Craig did the same thing. "To Token!"

"Isn't this day supposed to be about Tweek?" Token asked.

"No, it's about all of us." Tweek said. "To all of us!"

"Oh, what the hell?" Token thought to himself before saying out loud. "To all of us!" And raising his soda can too.

"To all of us!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Beep_

 _Beep_

 _Beep_

Kenny woke up to the sound of the alarm on his phone blaring. He extended his arm, grabbed the phone, and shut the alarm off. He stared at his phone for a long moment before sitting up, yawning and stretching and hopping out of bed, feeling the soft and clean carpet on his bare feet as he walked on over to the other side of the room, where his teenage brother was lying in his bed, arm draped over a pillow over his head.

"Come on Kev, time to get up." Kenny said as he shook his sibling.

"Mmmmmm." Kevin groaned.

"You know Mr. Slave or Big Gay Al will just come in and wake you up in five minutes. Might as well get up now." Kenny said, shaking Kevin harder this time.

"Aaaaaaaaugh, alright! Alright, I'm getting up." Kevin whined as he slowly sat up.

Kenny walked over and opened up his and Kevin's shared closet and picked out his clothes for the day, headed to the bathroom, and got ready there. When he was done, he headed for the kitchen and was greeted with the smell of bacon and eggs in the air.

"Morning, Kenny. Go ahead and sit, breakfast will be ready soon." Mr. Slave said from where he was cooking on the stove. "Is your brother up yet?"

"Yes, he's up and getting ready right now. " Kenny said, his parka not covering his mouth, his words un-muffled.

"Good."

Kenny, Big Gay Al and Karen all exchanged good mornings as Kenny sat at the kitchen table.

Karen's hair and face were clean and so were her new blue pajamas with ducks printed on them and her hair was tied back into cute little pigtails with pretty purple bows.

Al asked Kenny, "Hey Kenny, since we have a few minutes, you, uh, want to cover your mouth and see how much I understand you?"

Even thought they had known each other before, Big Gay Al and Kenny hadn't really spoken that much one and one before living together. Which meant that Al wasn't that good at understanding Kenny's muffled parka speech. Thanks to his time as a teacher's assistant in Kenny's class, Mr. Slave was a bit better at understanding the young boy but not by much.

So Kenny had to have his mouth uncovered in order for his foster fathers to understand what he was saying. Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave wanted to change that and to their credit, they were slowly but surely learning.

Kenny said a short muffled phrase.

"Ass the orange juice?" Big Gay Al said in bewilderment, then his eyes widened and he gasped and covered his mouth a second later as realization dawned on him.

A second too late as everyone else in the room (including Kevin who had just walked in) started to giggle which then turned into laughter.

" _PASS_ the orange juice, pass." Al said, slapping his head with the palm of his hand.

"Jesus Christ Hon, you trying to take my title as number one whore?" Mr. Slave jokingly said through his giggles.

Al covered his face with his hands. "Uuuuuuuugh."

* * *

That same morning, Mr. and Mrs. Black, Token, and Tweek were gathered in their foyer.

"Now, are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Mrs. Black asked.

It was late May, which meant that the school year was almost over, so it had made no sense for Tweek to come back for so little time. Another reason being that his doctors, nurses, and foster parents had all agreed that he needed some time to recuperate after rehab. So that's why he was staying behind, while Mr. and Mrs. Black and Token went to work and school.

"You have all our numbers in your cell phone, right?" Mrs. Black asked.

"Yes Ma'am." Tweek responded.

When he and Token had gotten back to the house the other day, Mr. and Mrs. Black had surprised Tweek with a brand new cell phone. Then, Mr. and Mrs. Black's cell phone numbers were added in, along with almost all of Tweek's old contacts.

"Now call us if you need us, okay?" Mr. Black asked.

"Yes Sir." Tweek responded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"He'll be fine, Come on or we're going to be late." Token said, exasperated that his parents had been taking so long to leave Tweek alone, going over every little thing to make sure Tweek was going to be alright by himself.

Finally, (with Token practically dragging his parents) the three of them were out the door, leaving Tweek alone at last.

He pulled out his phone and looked at his text messages, specifically the group text he had sent out the other night with his new number. He smiled at all the replies that had followed. And then he frowned for the lack of one.

"Well, can't really blame him for not knowing what to say." Tweek said outside to himself. "Cause neither do I."

* * *

A short while later, Stan and Kyle were at their school lockers when Kenny showed up.

"Hey Kenny." Stan and Kyle said.

"Hey guys." Kenny responded.

His friends could tell by his tone that something was the matter and were pretty sure what it was.

"So…uh…we got Tweek's text last night, saw that…you did too." Stan said.

"Yeah." Kenny responded.

"Did he say anything else to you?" Kyle asked.

"No." Kenny responded, shaking his head. "Do…do you two think I should make the next move? Like…should I text him back?"

Before either Stan or Kyle could give an answer, along came Token rushing past them.

"Hey Token." Stan said.

"Can't talk. No time." Token responded bluntly, going as fast as he could through his locker.

"Dude, did you just get in?" Kyle asked.

"Yep." Token responded as he grabbed the last of his things, slammed his locker door shut, and ran off to class.

Kenny looked at a nearby wall clock. " _It is_ almost time for class, we better get going." He said and closed his locker door as well, though not as hard.

Stan and Kyle followed suit and the boys started walking towards their classroom.

"Hey dude, we'll help you figure out what to say to him." Stan said to Kenny.

"Yeah." Kyle piped in.

"Thanks guys." Kenny responded, knowing full well that his friends were just as lost for words as he was but still, he appreciated the sentiment.

* * *

Cartman: "How about 'Hey Tweek, what's up'?

Butters: "Or 'Hia Tweek, how have you been'?

Stan: "Or maybe, 'How are you doing'?"

It was recess and several of Kenny's friends were helping him figure out what to text Tweek as he stared down at his phone opened to his text messages.

"Hi Tweek, how are you?" Kenny suggested.

"Good! Now, after you send him that, he should ask how you're going. When he does, bring up why you texted him." Kyle said.

"To see if he wants to schedule our meeting." Kenny finished.

"Yeah, now get to typing!" Butters said, trying to be encouraging.

Kenny took a deep breath and started a new message trend with Tweek's number. His hand then hovered over the screen.

"Come on Kenny!" Stan shouted.

"You can do it!" Kyle joined in.

"We believe in you, brah!" Cartman added.

"Go Kenny!" Butters cheered.

Kenny's hand slowly lowered down towards the digital keyboard, getting closer and closer, until he was almost there, when suddenly….

"What's going on here?"

…..Token's voice came out of the blue, starting Kenny so much that he jumped in place and dropped his phone. He then turned and saw that Token and Craig had appeared on the scene.

"God damn it, you guys! Kenny was just about to text Tweek!" Cartman yelled at Token and Craig.

"What?" Craig said, then he and Token saw Kenny kneeling in the snow, picking his phone up off the ground.

"Oh shit dude, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, is your phone alright?" Token asked.

"It's fine." Kenny said, wiping snow off the device before turning it back on. It appeared to still be working and was still in the same spot, waiting for him.

"Hey…uh…since you're both here….any words of wisdom you want me to tell Tweek?" Kenny asked, holding up his phone, showing the blank message trend to Craig and Token.

Craig and Token shared a look before Craig asked, "What do you have so far?"

"I think I was going with a simple hello and how are you and when Tweek asks the same thing, ask him if he wants to arrange a face to face meeting." Kenny answered, a nervous hint to his voice.

While he and Craig were on better terms, there was still tension between them.

"Sounds good to me." Craig said.

"Really?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, it's short, sweet, and to the point. And you'll be talking much more face to face anyways." Craig answered.

"Good point." Kenny said, before, once again, taking a deep breath and looking down at the screen. Then he looked at his friends, all waiting with baited breath, then back at the screen, before finally beginning to type.

Kenny:

 _Hi Tweek, how are you?_

Meanwhile, inside the Black family home, Tweek was exploring his new living quarters, taking in all he could of the spacious mansion. He studied the beautiful artwork, some of which had to be more then his birth parents had made in a year. He looked over the intricate African knick-knacks. He also founds pieces of Mr. Black's Clue collection scattered around the house.

He was looking over the piano in the foyer when he heard a ding from his pocket. He reached in, pulled out his phone, and saw that it was Kenny.

Well, this took Tweek aback, as he had been waiting until after school before messaging his friend again.

"Oh, fuck it." Tweek said, before getting to typing.

Meanwhile, back at the South Park Elementary playground, Kenny got his text back.

Tweek:

 _I'm sorry. I should have texted you private instead of group, putting you in spotlight. You've had more then enough of that._

Well, this caught Kenny off guard. So much for his script.

Kenny:

 _To be fair, the guys were on my ass to talk to you before that and would have been without it._

"It's for your own good, dude." Stan said as he and the rest of the guys read over Kenny's shoulder.

Tweek:

 _Still, it should have been private._

Before Kenny could type a response, there was another text.

Tweek:

 _I'm okay. Some adjusting to do._

Kenny:

 _Tell me about it_

Tweek:

 _We should talk about it. Maybe while we're having our talk_

This was it.

Kenny:

 _Are you ready to have it?_

Tweek:

 _I am. Are you?_

Kenny:

 _Yes, you pick the time and place._

A few anxious seconds went by.

Tweek:

 _Tomorrow, right after school, Stark's Pond._

Kenny:

 _Okay, see ya there_

Tweek:

 _See ya_

* * *

Tweek could have arranged that he and Kenny meet after school that same day but he hadn't. There were a few reasons for this.

One: Tweek had felt like it was too soon and wanted to give Kenny and himself more time to mentally prepare themselves.

And Two: Tweek had promised Craig a date and didn't want to reschedule.

So there he was, strolling side by side with his boyfriend in the park, hands intertwined.

"So Token said that his parents took forever to leave you this morning, huh?" Craig said.

"Yes, they just wouldn't leave, not until they made sure I had absolutely everything I needed. That I knew how to work the tv, the house alarm, the microwave, that I still had all their numbers on my phone. Even asked if I needed one of them to stay there with me." Tweek answered, exasperated. "Did Token make it to school on time?"

"Yes, barely."

"Good."

They walked in silence for a short bit, enjoying the beautiful sunny day. It was warmer then the other day, though not quite enough for either boy to take off their jackets. A butterfly fluttered in front of the couple and landed on a patch of red flowers growing on the side of the park path. Birds could be heard chirping away. It was a preview of the summer days coming right around the corner for that small mountain town.

"I just...I just..." Tweek struggled to get the words out.

Craig stayed in silence.

Tweek faced him.

"Maybe it's...I'm just not used to all this attention, you know? At least, when it comes to parents. That doesn't have to do with trying to get me to calm down or me being gay. I don't want to sound ungrateful. I am grateful, so much so, and I know they mean well but...I wouldn't mind if they toned it down, just a little bit." holding up his thumb and index finger to indicate a little bit.

Craig sighed, then spoke. "Babe, I'm gonna real honest with you. I have no idea how to help you with this."

"It's okay Craig."

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker, while by no means neglectful, were not nearly on par with the over attentiveness Mr. and Mrs. Black had shown to Tweek. But there was one couple around that level. Who had a child who Craig and Tweek knew very well.

"But I know who can." Craig said.

"Kenny." Tweek finished the thought for him.

Tweek knew about Kenny trying to adjust to the attention that Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave were giving him. From parents that barely bothered to care, (and when they did, usually for the wrong reasons) to ones who cared so much that it was almost suffocating at times; that was some of the common ground that Kenny and Tweek now shared.

"Heh, maybe I could use that as an ice breaker tomorrow." Tweek said.

"Hmm, maybe." Craig responded.

Pause.

"Wait, I think I kinda did bring that up as an ice breaker for tomorrow."

"...Oh yeah."

Another pause.

"I hope he's able to help with parent problems better then me." Craig mumbled, realizing a second later he had said that out loud.

Tweek knowingly looked at Craig. "Craig...you did everything you could."

"Did I? Did I really? Cause I don't feel like I did. Your parents were poisoning you and I couldn't do anything about it!" Craig responded, squeezing Tweek's hand just a little tighter.

"You tried! It's not your fault no one would listen!" Tweek shouted, knowing that Craig, having his own suspicions about Mr. and Mrs. Tweak long before the truth about their business and parenting practices were exposed, had brought the subject up to several adults, all of whom had brushed his comments off, responding with things like, 'they're such supportive parents' and 'they're such a lovely family how dare he say such things'.

And then shit hit the fan, the truth was revealed and Kenny wasn't the only one who had ended up apologizing to Craig.

"And anyways, it wasn't like you got any help from me..." Tweek continued.

"Don't." Craig said firmly. "It's your parents fault for putting you in that position, not yours."

He was talking about how Mr. and Mrs. Tweak made Tweek promise never to tell anyone anything about how Tweak Bros. 'special sugar' was made or else, the recipe would be stolen by their competition and, they joked, that Tweek would be sold into child slavery to keep them out of the poor house. This fed into Tweek's paranoia and for a long time, he went along with it. Then came the game of The Stick Of Truth and Butters and another child getting caught in the middle of the 'special sugar' operation and that's when the doubts came.

But even thought he began to see something was wrong, Tweek hadn't said a word to anyone because he was afraid. Of being wrong and having to face his parents after accusing them of such horrid things. Of being right and taken away from everything he had ever known and away from everyone he cared for. Of the possibility of being stuck in an abusive foster home. Of the same thing happening to Kenny and his siblings _again_. And for his parents because, despite everything, they were still his parents and he loved them.

"I still didn't help matters, pushing you and everyone else away when all you were trying to do was help." Tweek responded.

Tweek had vented about his parents plenty of times to Craig and others. But when Craig or someone else started to talk badly about them in turn, Tweek would get defensive, saying that they didn't know his mother and father like he did, that they really were good parents, even when Tweek wasn't entirely convinced himself. This all had resulted in quite a few arguments with his friends and boyfriend.

"Because your parents made you feel that way! That you felt like you couldn't trust anyone! Because they threatened you! Because they brainwashed you with that fucking meth coffee!"

After he was done, Craig panted, trying to catch his breath. Several bystanders had stopped to see what was going on but that's not what concerned Craig. It was how taken aback Tweek was at the outburst.

"Tweek...I-I'm sorry." Craig said in a much gentler tone. "I just don't want you blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault."

"I don't want you doing that either, Craig." Tweek responded.

Unsure of what to say next, Craig took a deep breath and went and sat on a nearby bench with Tweek following suit.

Tweek noticed the bystanders still hadn't moved and said to them, "Move along, will ya? There's nothing to see here." while shaking his fist in the air in their direction.

At this everyone moved along and went back about their business.

"Thanks." Craig said.

"No problem, we're not a show for them to watch." Tweek responded.

The two of them sat there in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say. A cool breeze blew on their red, sweaty faces.

"Craig, I'm gonna be real honest with you. There's going to be rough times ahead and more rough talks like this. You really okay with sticking around for all that? Cause I wouldn't blame you if you weren't."

"I'm not going anywhere. I know what I'm getting into but it's worth it. I want to be there for you."

"...Okay. But we're continuing Mr. and Mrs. Black's lessons on how to help me through panic attacks and all that stuff. And while we're at it, continue Token and the other's as well."

"Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

It was mid afternoon and Kenny was almost at Stark's Pond, where the boy he had both been looking forward to and dreaded seeing was waiting for him. He was alone, his friends and other students opting to give him and Tweek their space, which Kenny was grateful, as he was not really in the mood for a large crowd to see him break down like he had with Craig, as he knew he would.

Kenny arrived at the pond and saw Tweek, true to his word, waiting for him. His back was turned and at his feet were a bunch of ducks. He was throwing what looked like popcorn unto the ground for them, which they happily ate. Kenny removed the hood from his head and cleared his throat so as not to startle Tweek, who stopped, turned, and when he saw who it was, stood up and faced him.

A small smile formed on his lips as he said, "Hey Kenny."

Kenny was struck by how warm Tweek's tone was towards him, with not a hint of hostility. And could he also hear just the hit of nervousness too?

"Hey Tweek." Kenny responded in a familiar manner.

They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before Tweek finally broke it.

"Do you…want to feed the ducks? I've still got some popcorn." Tweek said, holding up a paper bag.

"Okay." Kenny responded, hesitant. He wasn't sure where Tweek was going with this but nonetheless, he obeyed and took his seat on the bench with Tweek sitting next to him. Then both boys grabbed fist fulls of popcorn which they threw onto the ground, which the awaiting ducks gladly gobbled up.

"You can put your hood back on if you want to." Tweek said.

"No, no I want it off. I want you to see my face when I say I'm sorry." Kenny responded, then he turned to met Tweek's gaze. "I'm so sorry for standing by and letting you go through with those drug deals." His voice started cracking as he went on. "I'm so sorry for not warning you of the danger you were walking into. I'm so so sorry."

"Kenny, It's okay. I understand why you did what you did. I'm not angry with you."

"Why the fuck not!?" Kenny shouted, hopping out of his seat and scattering the closest ducks, quacking as they went. "And why the fuck are you being so nice to me!?"

"You're my friend!"

"What kind of friend was I to let you deal with violent criminals on a daily basics and do absolutely nothing about it?"

"Kenny, please listen..."

"That in turn made it possible for your parents to continue to _poison_ you every day!"

"You were scared!"

"That's not an excuse!"

"Didn't you feel trapped, like there was no way out, like there wasn't a better way?"

"...Yeah but..."

"But Nothing! You were a victim in all this too!"

"I'm not the one who almost died! You are!"

"Don't you think I know that!?" Tweek screamed so loud that it sent the remaining ducks flying. When the feathers cleared and the quacking ceased, Tweek continued.

"It's been made _very_ clear to me that by all logic, I should have overdosed and died a long time ago! That the fact that I'm still alive is nothing short of a miracle! And they're right! And I think about that, every. single. day. I have nightmares about dying and I can't be anywhere near a cup of coffee or even the smell without risking a panic attack, I'm shaking even just thinking about it " Holding out his arms to show that indeed, to Kenny's alarm, they were slightly shaking. "All because my parents thought it was a good idea to use me as _lab rat_ for their own fucked up business practices. You being a scared child afraid of going back to an abusive foster home and possibly lose not only your parents but your siblings as well, is nothing compared to them. They and your parents and the drug dealers were in full control of the situation, that they chose to rope us into. We didn't have the choice. I didn't have a choice. You didn't have a choice."

"….You have nightmares about dying?" Kenny asked with great concern.

"….Yes, I do." Tweek answered.

"Have you told anyone else this?"

"Doctors, Mr. and Mrs. Black, Token, Craig. They all know."

"Good, I'm glad. I mean, I'm not glad you having nightmares, dying, I….I'm glad you're talking to people and getting help." Kenny said, stumbling and stuttering.

"It's okay, Kenny. I know what you mean and yes, it does help. Thanks for asking." Tweek said. "That helps prove my next point. Unlike my parents, you actually give a shit about my well being. You worry, you cry, you've been checking on me, asking for updates while I was in rehab." When Tweek saw the look of surprise on Kenny's face, he said, "Yeah, the guys told that. You just asked if I was getting help for my nightmares. You care and if you ask me, it shows that you are a good person."

"...I don't feel like one. Yeah, I've talked about how guilty I feel but what have I done to make up for it? Ask how you are doing and what else?"

Tweek started to answer, then didn't and Kenny didn't say anything else so the two boys stood in silence for a few moments. Their ducks could be heard on the other side of the pond and a couple of squirrels watched them from a nearby tree and that was their only audience. Suddenly, Kenny was struck with an idea.

"Hey, you remember yesterday, when you said that you were going through some adjustments?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah." Tweek answered, confused at first, then he started to see where Kenny might be going with this.

"And you suggested we talk about it, right?" Kenny finished.

"Yes, I did." Tweek said, knowing for sure where this was going.

"I mean, i know it's not much but...we could talk about that and...I could maybe help you in that way since I've been with Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave a little longer then you and the Blacks and...again, it's not much but...um..."

"I think that's a great idea."

* * *

"Wait, so _how much_ candy did he let you two take?"

"Way more then I know he should have and I know he wanted to stop us but he didn't and he bought it and I think we have enough candy to last us to Halloween."

"Oh my god." Tweek said with a giggle.

"But like I said, he and Mr. Slave have gotten a little better at saying no to us."

Just the, Tweek's phone dinged.

"You mind?" Tweek asked.

"No, go ahead." Kenny said.

Tweek got out his phone and saw that it was a text message.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed.

"What?"

"It's 5:30 and Token says dinner will be ready soon. I gotta go." Tweek said, standing up.

"Shit, really? It's that late? I better head home too." Kenny said, getting up as well.

"Thanks for coming, Kenny. I needed this talk." Tweek said with full sincerity.

"Yeah, me too, thank you." Kenny responded.

Suddenly, Kenny found himself being enveloped in a hug. After a stunned moment, Kenny slowly wrapped his arms around Tweek and the two boys stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments. Kenny could feel the beginnings of tears well up in his eyes and when the hug was done, he could see Tweek's eyes were shining as well.

"I..I thought maybe we could both use that." Tweek explained sheepishly, to which Kenny nodded in agreement.

The two boys then rushed off to their respective houses, which were in the same direction and not that far from each other, so for most of the way, they stayed together. When they got to the intersection where their paths split, Tweek asked, "Hang out again soon?"

"...Y-yeah, definitely." Kenny responded and with that, they went their separate ways.

"Where have you been, man? You didn't respond to my text. Dinners almost ready." Kevin said when Kenny came through the front door, then he saw the tears now streaming down his little brother's face.

"Shit, you alright Ken?" Kevin asked. He could see Kenny was not only crying but trembling as well, so much so that he was leaning against the door for support.

"I talked to Tweek."

"You did? How did it go?"

"Wonderful."

"Is that Kenny?" said Karen as she entered the room, having heard the door slamming and rushing to meet her brother. Then she saw the state he was in. "Kenny!" and rushed to him.

"He talked to Tweek." Kevin explained to her.

"He did?" She asked, then turned back to Kenny. "You did?"

"Yeah. Like I told Kevin, it went wonderfully."

"Then why are you crying?" Karen asked with concern.

"Cause I'm starting to believe that maybe Tweek _doesn't_ hate me and I'm not such a douche in all this mess after all."

"Kenny..." Kevin said as he and Karen wrapped Kenny up in a group hug, which he gladly returned.

Meanwhile, Tweek got back to his house where Token was waiting for him.

"Well, how did it go?" Token asked, then he noticed the tears running down Tweek's cheeks. "Shit man." he rushed to Tweek's side.

"It was a great talk. I think i was able to make Kenny feel at least a little better." Tweek answered.

"Really? That's wonderful dude." Token said before hugging Tweek, who hugged him back.

"Yeah, it is."

After a few seconds, Token pulled away and asked, "And what about you? Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, I do." Tweek answered and that was the truth.

"Good."

* * *

One of the things that Kenny had told Tweek was that Mr. and Mrs. Black would likely lighten up on the over attentiveness in time, he and Token just had to be patient and firm with them. So Token and Tweek discussed the issue with them later that night and for Mr. and Mrs. Black's part, they had been so clingy because they knew how much Mr. and Mrs. Tweak had made their son work and how they often left him alone to sort things out himself, even when he needed someone to be there for him the most. They just wanted to make Tweek feel appreciated and give him a break. Tweek understood this and was grateful but explained to them that he still needed some space and still wanted to be of some help around the house. So they ended up letting Tweek have a few chores, which Tweek had to keep reassuring them were a breeze compared to his old ones.

"Are you sure that bag isn't too heavy, Tweek?" Mrs. Black asked as Tweek was taking out the trash a few days later.

"Nah, this is nothing." Tweek answered. The trash bag he carried felt lighter then air compared to some of the coffee bean bags he used to have to lug around for Tweek Bros. "Why, I could carry one more if you wanted."

"No, that one is more then enough. I don't want you straining yourself. Now, go and take that one out, then you and Token can go play with your friends."

So Tweek went, dumped the bag into the trash can, then he and Token went on over to the Cartman house for video games.

Sometime later, they and a bunch of their friends were sitting around the Cartman living room, playing away when Cartman suddenly barked, "Hey, watch it Granola Boy!" Cartman barked at Kenny as his character had almost gotten the other killed.

"Wow Cartman, already have new insults, huh?" Tweek said from where he was sitting on the floor.

"He does now but when he first figured out that all his poor jokes weren't going to work anymore, Cartman was totally lost on what to do." Kyle piped in next to him.

"Shut up, Kahl!"

"Heh heh really?" Tweek asked.

"Shut up Tweek!"

"But it's true, Eric. At first, you had no idea what to call Kenny, well, besides just his name." Butters pointed out.

" _But_ then I saw just how much he was into his salad and I was back in business." Cartman said with a smug grin, then turned back to Kenny, elbowing his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Veggie Boy?"

"Yep." Kenny answered, slight amusement in his tone. "Can always count on you for the _charming_ nicknames."

"Just one of my many specialties." Cartman responded with that same self satisfied grin on his face.

Kenny knew that he should have been more annoyed but he wasn't. The new names were so like his old ones that they also brought a sense of familiarity that was oddly comforting in a way. Like, no matter how crazy things had gotten or how much his and other people's worlds had been turned upside down, Cartman could still be counted on for insults. A strange thing to find comfort in, Kenny knew, but times were strange.

"You also specialize in hogging all the snacks. Hand them over." Clyde said, reaching across Cartman's lap and snatching the bowl of Cheesy Poofs on the other side.

"Hey, those are my Cheesy Poofs." Cartman whined.

"Not anymore." Clyde responded, grabbing a fist full of the crunchy orange snack and shoving them into his mouth.

"God damn it, Clyde. Give them back."

"You've had enough, Fatass." Craig piped in, reaching to grab a fist full himself when Cartman grabbed the bowl and started to tug it out of Clyde's hands. Clyde tugged back and Craig joined him.

"Don't call me fat, Buttfucker!"

"God damn it, Cartman! You have to share!' Stan stated, grabbing the bowl as well, helping Craig and Clyde pull.

"My house, my snacks!"

"Fuck that!" Craig said, pulling harder.

The tug of war over the delicious treats waged on until such time that the bowl containing said treats slipped out of the boy's grasps, flew through the air for a moment or two, then descended down unto the floor, it's contents spilling all over the place. The dusty poofs were all over the rug, the television, the couch and the boys themselves. All of this seeming to be happening in slow motion but really was only a few seconds.

"Nice job, asshole!" Kyle said, eyes on Cartman.

"Hey, it's not my fault Clyde is a snack thief!" Cartman said, pointing to Clyde.

"They were supposed to be for everyone, you fat fuck!" Clyde responded.

"Gee, we sure made a mess here, didn't we?" Butters pointed out.

"No shit, Sherlock! Look at this!" Cartman yelled, turning his head around and spreading his arms to indicate said mess. "It's gonna take my mom forever to clean this shit up!"

Suddenly, Kenny burst out into a fit of laughter. The real deep hearty kind from the pit of your belly.

"What the hell?" Kyle asked. While on the one hand, he was happy to see his friend in such high spirits (something that had been a rare occurrence those past few months, on the other hand, he was also confused. "Dude, what's so funny?"

"To-Token...his his hair...the Cheesy Poofs..they they look like ha-hair curlers." Kenny shrugged to say through the giggles.

Several Cheesy Poofs had landed in Token's hair and now that they saw it, they did kinda make it look like Token was wearing orange hair curlers. A few of the boys started to giggle, then Token reached up, felt his hair, took a Cheesy Poof off, stared at it for a second before he started laughing too. And soon, one by one, others followed suit, until everyone in the room was howling with laughter.

"You look like a mom." Kyle said.

"Or a gra-grandma." Jimmy piped in.

"Oh, look how big you're getting. Let Grandma pinch those chubby little cheeks." Token said in his best grandma voice and making pinching motions with his hands, which got more laughs.

Amid the glee, Tweek and Kenny shared a knowing look with each other, one that said, "It's great to be home."

* * *

The End


End file.
